Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume 3, Number 13 May 4 - 10, 2003 Quezon City, Philippines |
Fasting
Against Bt Corn In
the beginning there had been nine of them. But only the four have been
able to stay on; the others have either been rushed to the hospital or had
to bow out from the the hunger strike for some pressing
reasons. The hunger strikers are calling for at least a moratorium on the
commercial distribution of Bt corn in the Philippines to allow for
sufficient scientific research on the issue. By
Alexander Martin Remollino When
I went to visit those four last Saturday, they had been spending the last 12
days and nights under a very congested makeshift tent in front of the office of
the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Elliptical Road, Quezon City. Sleep had
been coming to them by fits, as the street never runs out of passing vehicles
even at the most unholy hours. During the days they had been putting up with
punishment not only from both the sun and smog; at one time they had to fight it
out with a sudden rain. And
for the last 12 days their menu had not included any solid food; all they had
been having were water and juice, by turns. The
hunger strikers Among
the four, 50-year-old Roberto "Obet" Versola is the one who has very
obviously had to deal with the heaviest physical toll. When I went to visit
them, he could not walk beyond four feet. His hand was shaking as he laid down a
glass he had been drinking form. His eyes and cheekbones were bulging out of his
face. As he talked, his voice was audible enough - but there was a noticeable
crack in it. When Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo, Jr. called them for a
dialogue, he had to be carried in a wheelchair. Mang
Obet has been many things. He took a degree in Electrical Engineering from the
University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman. He has been involved in
environmental issues since the 1970s. He used to work for the National
Environmental Protection Bureau (now the Environmental Management Bureau) as a
writer and researcher. Despite his condition, he could still muster enough pride
to describe himself as quite an expert at computers: in 1992, he pioneered the
setting up of e-mail services for non-government organizations (NGOs), and at
one time he even received an award for being the "Father of Philippine
E-Mail." It was also he who set up Ibon Foundation's retrieval system, he
said. Now
married with one 26-year-old daughter and one 24-year-old son, he is with the
Philippine Greens. And he is one of four people who had been staging a hunger
strike in front of the DA to protest the commercialization of Bt corn in the
Philippines, which is expected to take effect either this month or in June. His
fellow hunger strikers are lucky enough to be blessed with more physical
strength. Luisita
"Sita" Esmao, 46, a daughter of peasants and herself a peasant from
Tayabas, Quezon who worked her way through school and went as far as the second
year of Commerce at Adamson University, originally committed only three days to
the hunger strike, but saw the need to go on after the first three days. With a
smile, she says her husband and her three children (the eldest is turning 23,
another is turning 21, and the youngest is turning 19) have not worried that
much about her decision to take part in the hunger strike. "They
know the extent I'd go through," Sita said. "In 1995 I had all my hair
shaved off as a protest against the implementation of the Mining Act." She
can still move about and has the strength to sweep her surroundings, but her
face has begun to show signs of gauntness. The worst she has experienced
physically in the hunger strike are a severe headache and a one-time bout with
loose bowel movement. Sita
ended the interview with the following words: "I don't want to let the Bt
corn nightmare happen without me having done anything." Her voice
inevitably soft but evidently defiant, she could very well say of herself what
the persona in the poem "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley said of
himself: "My head is bloody, but unbowed." Mang
Obet and Sita are joined by Arma Bertuso and Mark Cervantes of the South East
Asia Regional Initiative for Community Empowerment (SEARICE). Mark,
26, shows a few remaining signs of an athletic physique 12 days into their
hunger strike. A policy officer for SEARICE, he took a degree in Political
Science from the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, and was once a high
school teacher. "I'm married but with no kids yet," he says, "but
right now I have no wife because of the hunger strike." And then he laughs.
Yes, he can still laugh, and once in a while he plays around with his cellphone.
But there is a noticeable slowness in his movements. Arma
and Mark both have had to put up with moments of light-headedness. In
the beginning there had been nine of them: aside from the four there were
Antonio Claparols (Ecological Society of the Philippines/International Union for
the Conservation of Nature), Gigie Cruz (Greenpeace), Ramon Fernando (Earth
First!), Rei Panaligan, and Anne Larracas (both of the Philippine Greens). But
only the four have been able to stay on; the others have either been rushed to
the hospital or had to discontinue their participation in the hunger strike for
some pressing reasons. The
hunger strikers are calling for at least a moratorium on the commercial
distribution of Bt corn in the Philippines to allow for sufficient scientific
research on the issue. A
second batch of hunger strikers is preparing to take their place, although the
four intend to go on for as long as they find it necessary-even as they are
unsure how long they can carry on. Bt
corn It
was the American multinational corporation Monsanto which introduced Bt corn
into the Philippines in 1997. Bt (bacillus thuringiensis) corn is a genetically
modified organism (GMO) that contains the potent form of the Bt toxin,
supposedly intended to kill the corn borer. Amidst
broad protest actions, Monsanto field-tested Bt corn for five years in the
Philippines. In December last year, the DA finally allowed its commercial
distribution in the Philippines. The
government is promoting Bt corn as a solution to the shortage of corn yield due
to pest infestation. Opposition
to Bt corn has focused on the potential health and environmental risks it poses,
as well as issues regarding patent problems. The
militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) is one of the many groups that
opposed the testing of Bt corn from the beginning. It protested Bt corn testing
on the ground that it had negative effects on the environment, the people's
health, and livelihood. The group also argued that Bt corn was a threat to the
country's food security and self-sufficiency. Most
dramatic among the forms of protests carried out by KMP-affiliated peasants
against Bt corn testing was the uprooting of Bt corn crops in South Cotabato in
2001. A
position paper signed by 18 physicians and professors from the UP College of
Medicine (CM), the Philippine General Hospital, and UP Los Baņos enumerates the
health hazards posed by Bt corn. The position paper was initiated by Dr. Romeo
Quijano of the Health Alliance for Democracy and the Health Action for Human
Rights. Dr. Quijano is also a Professor at the UPCM Department of Pharmacology
and Toxicology. The
paper points out that the Bt toxin is non-selective and thus may also affect
non-target species. It may also adversely affect the blood and the immune,
gastro-intestinal, and other organ systems in mammalian species, the paper
states. It criticizes Monsanto for not having provided any credible data which
could assure the public that ingestion of Bt corn is safe. The
paper goes on to explain that Monsanto's Bt corn possesses allergenic
characteristics. Finally,
the paper states: "The forced insertion of a foreign gene randomly into the
genome of another species is by itself inherently dangerous. The effects are
unpredictable and largely unknown." It explains that genetic engineering
could cause disturbances in the gene ecology and disruptions in important
functions of organisms-which could cause abnormalities or diseases, including
cancer. A
statement by the hunger strikers, aside from enumerating health posed by Bt
corn-particularly stomach and colon cancer, the hastening of the growth of
malignant tumors, and false pregnancies-also points out that Bt corn could
contaminate other corn fields and result in crop mutation. According to the
statement, since Monsanto owns the patent to Bt corn, the mutation of corn crops
which could result from contamination would make the unwilling corn farmer
guilty of infringement and therefore expose her or him to legal action, which
would cost her or him a fine ranging from P100,000 to P250,000. Broad
support The
hunger strikers have won broad support for their efforts. People
from such prominent cause-oriented groups as the Kalikasan-People's Network for
the Environment, Agham, the National Network of Agrarian Reform Advocates, and
the College Editors Guild of the Philippines have visited them to express
solidarity. Non-government organizations such as Balik Kalikasan, Lingkod Tao-Kalikasan,
Saniblakas, Balay Davao Sur, and the Foundation for Nationalist Studies have
also given support, as well as school-based organizations like Miriam Peace. From
the religious sector, support has come through the Catholic Bishops Conference
of the Philippines and the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the
Philippines. "Running Priest" Fr. Robert Reyes is a frequent visitor. There
have also been expressions of solidarity from the artistic community. The hunger
strikers have had the pleasure of a visit from folk-ethnic singer Joey Ayala.
Expressions of support have come from the Artists for the Environment, as well
as from folk musicians Jess Santiago, Heber Bartolome, and Noel Cabangon-who
have been collaborating on a song entitled "Ang Taghoy ng Ginahasang Mais". They
have also been visited by Rep. Del de Guzman of the lone district of Marikina
City. They also have the support of ten barangay councils in Davao del Sur. Support
has also come from the international scientific, peasant, and NGO communities. "We
in the US are becoming aware of the threats posed by GMO crops and medicines and
have found our food security threatened," wrote Stephen Bartlkett, a farmer
from Kentucky, to Secretary Lorenzo. "GMO crops are more difficult to
market, they have not been proven to yield better, and their ecological impacts
have not been studied sufficiently." Dr.
Mae Wan Ho of the Institute of Science in Society, from the United Kingdom,
wrote to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the possible negative effects of
Bt corn to nearby crops and other organisms close to GMO plantations. Devinder
Sherma, an NGO worker leading anti-GMO campaigns in India, has expressed support
for the hunger strikers. Developments As
of last Saturday, the hunger strikers had met with Sec. Lorenzo twice. The DA
secretary appears open to alternatives to Bt corn, they say, but has not made
any commitment on their petition. And so for Mang Obet, Sita, Arma, and Mark, the fight goes on-indefinitely. Bulatlat.com We want to know what you think of this article.
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